Thomas Hammock was perfectly happy being a businessman. I NIU’s former all-conference running back was using his degree in marketing for about the last seven months at Wells Fargo Financial when he decided to make a temporary career change.

After his football career was cut short because of a heart condition just one game into the 2002 season, his senior year, Hammock’s career came to a screeching halt.

Hammock continued to attend practice and travel with the team throughout the season.

It was on one of these road trips that the career change occurred.

On Sept. 14, 2002, the Huskies traveled to Madison, Wis., to play the host Badgers.

Before the game, Hammock was introduced to Wisconsin head coach Barry Alvarez.

Hammock e-mailed Alvarez, and, to Hammock’s surprise, Alvarez responded the next day.

“I wasn’t trying to apply for a job,” Hammock said. “But my heart was still into football.”

In the e-mail, Hammock told Alvarez he missed football more than he thought he would’ve, and he said that if a position opened up he’d be happy to take it. Whether Hammock was applying or not, he accepted a graduate assistant spot at Wisconsin and will arrive in Madison this week where he will work with the running backs.

For Hammock, the decision had more positives than just coaching in the Big 10.

“Wisconsin has the No. 1 Education Administration program in the country,” Hammock said.

This was a perfect fit for Hammock, who aspires to become an athletic director.

While at Wisconsin, Hammock will have a few more decisions to make in the near future, none of which involve football.

The two-time 1,000-yard rusher was recently engaged and will be married after he completes his masters degree.

His fiancee, Cheynnitha Pinson, works at a business firm in Chicago and is relieved Hammock is done playing football.

“She is a wonderful person and she makes my life better,” Hammock said. “But, she didn’t really like me playing though. She was afraid I would get hurt.”

Both on the field and off, Hammock made the most of his abilities, said NIU head coach Joe Novak.

“Thomas is a high achiever,” Novak said. “He worked hard and had a personality which helped him. He had the type of work ethic that has helped elevate this program.”

As for Hammock’s status at NIU, he plans on eventually making a comeback with the Huskies.

However, this return will probably not be on the sidelines.

Hammock hopes his goal of becoming an athletic director leads him back to DeKalb, as the head of the athletics department.

As for his former job at Wells Fargo, they had just one request.

“Wells Fargo understood the opportunity to go to a great program like Wisconsin,” Hammock said. “They were very supportive. All they asked for was a few tickets to the Wisconsin-Illinois game.”

Nothing a businessman can’t take care of.